De Paul Gets The Message

Upset By Story, Players Take Their Ire Out On Foe

Obviously, De Paul`s basketball players can read. And if they cannot always detect subtle shades of irony, they at least can decipher the handwriting on the wall.

It was a column in your favorite morning newspaper that shook the Blue Demons out of their blue lethargy Saturday night and sent them rollicking to a gloombusting 90-65 victory over Pepperdine.

``They called a team meeting after that article came out,`` said coach Joey Meyer. ``The article reached a few players and they were not thrilled about it.

``Maybe reality hit them and they saw how people are perceiving the situation.``

Bernie Lincicome`s Friday column suggested that because Ray Meyer`s impending retirement had inspired the Blue Demons to an outstanding season last year, son Joey might use the same ploy and retire early.

``I guess I can coach another game now,`` Joey quipped after Saturday night`s romp. ``I`ve been given a one-game reprieve before my early retirement.``

De Paul, which had played tentatively while losing three of its previous four games, looked free and easy Saturday night. ``I was pleased,`` said Meyer. ``We were aggressive offensively and yet we didn`t force things too much. We had a real good tempo offensively.

``We`d been playing a little scared in the last few games. This time the attitude was, we`ve got to make it happen ourselves. I thought our kids played with enthusiasm and that got the crowd into the game.``

The kids` enthusiasm apparently was inspired by the notion that they had gotten Meyer into this fix and it was up to them to get him out of it. The team meeting was called by co-captain Tyrone Corbin, who met with Meyer before practice Friday.

``After talking to coach Joe, I decided we needed a meeting to find out where everyone`s mind was,`` said Corbin. ``We felt bad for him and we felt bad for ourselves.``

``We had to figure out what was wrong,`` said Kenny Patterson, the other co-captain, ``but we couldn`t pinpoint what was wrong. We knew we had talent. We were putting a lot of pressure on our coach and we felt it was time we did something about it.

``People were second-guessing us and the coaching staff. Because of the talent we have, we know we should have 20 wins by now or at least be 17-4 or what have you.``

De Paul is 15-6 with a tough week ahead. The annual back-yard war with Loyola is Tuesday night and then the Blue Demons travel to St. John`s to take on the No. 1 team in the nation on Sunday.

But Meyer said that no matter what happens in those games, ``if they can play with this kind of intensity, I can live with it.``

Pepperdine quickly died by it. A team that had not lost a game by more than 6 points all year was down by 13 at halftime and utterly demolished by a 15-2 De Paul spurt that opened the second half.

Patterson and Corbin were the main dynamos in De Paul`s revival. Patterson scored 14 points and handed out 11 assists while becoming the Blue Demons` all-time assist leader. Corbin hit 10 of 12 shots to score 20 points and move past his coach into ninth place on the school`s all-time scoring list.

But what particularly entranced Meyer was that all five starters were in double figures. ``I can`t remember when that`s happened before,`` he said.

``I`ve been saying all along we`re like a jigsaw puzzle where only two or three pieces fit.

``Tonight we had five. Five easy pieces? Huh. I wish they had been five easy pieces. They`ve been hard fitting together.``

Now he has to hope Saturday night`s satisfying victory provided the glue that will hold them together.